Schools stamp out culture of violence in orientation

JAKArtA: Schools have eradicated a culture of violence and bullying during orientation programmes, practices that were considered common in the past, a ministry official has said.

“We have not received any reports related to (physical or psychological) harassment up until now,” the Culture and Education Ministry’s inspector general Daryanto told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Students returned to school this week after a long break.

Daryanto said provincial-level education quality assurance agencies helped to monitor school orientations this year to ensure no violence occurred during the events, in line with a 2016 ministerial decree regulating the introduction of students to school environments.

People can send reports to the ministry via sekolahaman.kemdikbud.go.id if they observe violence or bullying during a school orientation.

Last year, a 13-year-old junior high school student in Bintan, Riau Islands, Muhamad Arif Husein, died as a result of physical abuse allegedly inflicted by his seniors during orientation. It was reported that Arif ’s seniors hit and kicked him in the chest, causing his death a few days after the orientation ended. — The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network